Just Remember, You Are Not Alone (In The Aftermath)
by SereneCalamity
Summary: Bucky tries to comfort Steve. Stucky. Oneshot.


**This is canon-ish compliant, just if Bucky didn't disappear in the snap as well. Because, shit. He didn't deserve that. Neither did Steve.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, or the title, which comes from _Aftermath_ by Adam Lambert, a song that was completely obsessed with when it first came out.**

James 'Bucky' Barnes sighed as he approached the door for the top-of-the-line gym and heard grunts inside, as well as the vibrating thuds coming from the projections that Steve Rogers was fighting with. Gone were the days where he had to work out using a punching bag or finding poor SHIELD agents to try and keep up with him while training. Now that he was living full time in Wakanda, he was able to work out using the programs that Shuri had created and were what the women who were training for the Dora Milaje used. The projections weren't just holograms, they actually created resistance and there were shocks that were given off when a hit was landed.

Steve was in here everyday.

 _Everyday_.

For hours.

The world was a mess right now.

Half the population had disappeared with a snap of Thanos' fingers, and the news was still trying to be figured out by the ones who were being fed lies and bullshit by the government.

Even the ones who _knew_ what had happened was still trying to figure it out as well.

And the ones who knew were also blaming themselves a lot.

Tony Stark was one of the people taking it hardest. After he had come back to Earth with some strange blue, kind of robot lady, he had been shell-shocked, and it had come out that the teenager, Peter Parker, had died in his arms. They had all seen people die, so many, and they had also seen deaths and they had all experienced that shock when Thanos had snapped his fingers and people had just floated away in a cloud of ash, but Bucky could understand that it was different having a teenager, virtually a _child_ , disappear in your arms, it would be even more painful.

Steve was also shouldering so much blame.

He blamed himself for not getting Vision to Shuri sooner.

He blamed himself for not being prepared when Thanos came.

He blamed himself for not being strong enough.

None of these things were logical, but it didn't matter, because Steve was a pro at taking on blame that he didn't deserve, and even when people tried to tell him that he was only human, that he couldn't have stopped Thanos, that there was no way in _hell_ that this blame belonged on his back, breaking it down to him like it was, he didn't listen.

So all Bucky could do was be there.

He was experienced in the area of having to work through blame and grief and anger, and Steve had been there at every turn, even though he had had so much going on in his own life at the time, and so the least he could do was be there for Steve.

He felt hopeless, and in the middle of the night when Steve tossed in turn in their bed, shouting out Wanda or Sams names, all Bucky could do was wake him and hold him. No end seemed to be in sight. It had only been four months now, and people were broken and stumbling through life, but it felt as though it had been four years. Natasha Romanova was in a similar state to Steve, but she hadn't been around for much since she had decided to go and hide out with Clint Barton and his family.

Shuri was now the Queen of Wakanda, and she had her mother, Nakia and M'Baku for wisdom, love and strength, and the young girl had told the super-soldiers that they were welcome to stay for however long they wanted. It would have been what her brother would have had wanted. Bucky was glad, because this place had become home over the years. The only thing that had been missing was Steve, and now he was here.

Although he had never wished it under these circumstances.

" _Fuck_!" Steve shouted out and Bucky blinked as he refocused on Steve. The anger in his voice was clear and Bucky felt his heart clench in anguish for his lover. He quickly moved forward, into the gym and crossing the floor toward Steve. Steve was shaking his hands—which he hadn't bothered to wrap in tape before beginning—and Bucky could see that the skin of his knuckles was cracked and bleeding, and it also looked like the skin on his palms had been broken, from his short nails.

"Steve..." Bucky began softly, but when Steve didn't pause, and threw a bunch at another projection, and its defenses let out loud hum and it pushed back on him, forcing Steve stumbling back a step. "Steve!" Bucky repeated, louder this time, but the blonde still ignored him. Bucky let out an angry huff and he lunged forward as Steve was about to do swing around and kick out. "Stop!" Bucky shouted, practically tackling Steve to the ground. Steve tripped, thrown off balance by the weight thrown at him, and the two of them went tumbling to the ground in an unruly heap.

"Bucky!" Steve grunted in annoyance, pushing at Bucky. The dark haired man gave a little, letting Steve roll over, put then he put his hands on either side of his head, stopping him from moving too far. "Bucky..." Steve repeated, but this time, his word trailed off, and his eyes closed as he let out an exhausted sigh. Bucky stared down at him, noting the bags under his eyes because of his lack of sleep and the way Steve's eyes were dull when they opened again.

"You need to stop this," Bucky whispered, hating how broken and defeated Steve looked. "You can't keep doing this."

"I'm not doing anything," Steve said through gritted teeth and Bucky didn't bother contradicting him, because they had had this fight over and over and over again. Some might think that there was no point getting into it again, but that wasn't the reason that Bucky didn't argue. He would fight this many times over with Steve until his lover finally got it through his thick skull that Steve wasn't to blame for what had happened. But right now, Steve needed to eat, and he needed to sleep.

"Come with me," Bucky murmured, the fingers of his cybernetic arm gently touched the side of Steve's face. Steve tipped his head slightly into the touch, just like he would have with Bucky's flesh hand. "Let's go back home." There was a heaviness in Steve's eyes, and Bucky knew it was because he still didn't quite accept that the cottage that they lived in on the outskirts of Wakanda as 'home'. Even being on the run for years, home was still the Avengers compound for Steve, but he couldn't bear to go back there after everything that had happened, even though Tony had asked him a hundred times.

"Alright," Steve finally conceded, dipping his head in a small nod and letting out another heavy, weary sigh. Bucky stared at Steve for a moment later before reaching forward and pressing his lips to Steves. Steves response was instant, kissing Bucky back firmly, reaching up one hand and wrapping it around Bucky's head, fingers weaving through his hair. When they pulled apart, Bucky dropped a final kiss to Steve's forehead.

"Come on," Bucky repeated. He got up and held out a hand for Steve, pulling him up as well after he took his hand. "Come with me. Let me help." Steve parted his lips and looked as though he might disagree, but Bucky gave him a pointed look that was caring and loving, but definitely said that he would use physical force if needed. And Steve _knew_ he would, because he had done so before.

"Alright," Steve murmured, repeating himself. Bucky didn't know where they were going and he had absolutely no idea if things were going to get better. All he knew, was that he was never going to leave Steve again. He was never going to stop trying to make Steve feel better. He loved the man, and he was never going to lose him again.

 **Let me know what you think x**


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